ANGEL PASTA: PART FIVE
The abandoned house in question was down near the seashore.Mimi had given Angel very good instructions with respect to locating the place, which was where Patty now kept her equipment. The blonde woman with her hair in the ringlets had even offered to come along, however they had no evidence that Patty was in trouble, versus having had become distracted or otherwise occupied. And Mimi needed to return to work at 1500 hours.
Angel had said she could investigate on her own.
As she approached the location, it occurred to Angel that she was insisting on working by herself a lot since her arrival in town. Her general paranoia at work? Might it become an impediment to the investigation?
Angel shook her head, her bunny ears waving lazily back and forth at the motion. No. There had been no need to disrupt Mimi’s routine owing to one failed follow-up. Going alone was practical, nothing more than that.
Angel elected to approach the area with caution.
She parked a couple blocks away, circling around to the shore on foot. There was a large rock near where the earth met the beach, and she crouched and hid there to watch the house for a good five minutes.
It’s not that she thought Patty was necessarily up to anything, but the other woman WAS working with that unknown Epsilon group. Perhaps they were inside watching, and wouldn’t take kindly to visitors, or had set up some sort of perimeter. But Angel saw nothing.
The house itself had suffered some damage from a storm some years back, Mimi had explained. This had led the owner to move away, while also making it difficult to sell the property. So Patty had decided to use it to house some equipment, it’s proximity to the jellyfish situation seen as being potentially helpful.
Angel saw now that the property damage was mostly cosmetic, meaning no structural concerns, though some shingles were missing from the roof. Angel wondered if rain damage was an issue on the inside.
Alas, there wasn’t much cover once you walked past the broken fence which cut across the path leading up to the building. Fortunately, it had been clouding over, and thus Angel felt the shadows on the ground would be of use in obscuring her.
She dashed through the area to the rear of the building like a jackrabbit, her lab coat billowing out behind her.
The back door was unlocked. This made sense, as the abandoned house wouldn’t be well maintained, plus if Patty was there, she would have no reason to lock herself inside. Still, it made Angel uneasy.
She briefly reached for her gun, but then thought better of it and simply pushed the door open.
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ANGEL RUSÉE[/caption]
Immediately obvious were some binoculars near the large rear window, along with what seemed to be a sketchbook and a number of pencils. After taking a quick glance around the area, and likewise hearing nothing, she went to have a closer look.
Flipping through the sketchbook revealed to Angel that Patty was a decent artist. While perhaps scanning for jellyfish, she’d been sketching the scene outside, or birds, or Mimi. Actually, there were quite a few sketches of Mimi. In various poses.
Angel closed the book, feeling like she was violating Patty’s privacy.
“Hello?” Angel called out, listening for any sort of reaction to her voice. The house remained silent.
Perhaps Patty had simply left to follow up on a lead. Or perhaps she’d been stalked, the way Angel had been that morning on the boat? And then kidnapped?
“Stop being so paranoid,” Angel muttered to herself, hoping the sound of her own voice would calm her.
After all, this was absolutely, positively, not Angel’s fault for wanting to go off and investigate on her own. No way. Patty’s status might have been the same even without her presence. However, it was by being here now, that she could make a difference.
Taking a deep breath, Angel began a proper investigation.
In addition to the sketch book, the room at the back had a small table with a few screws and bolts and some electronic equipment sitting out. Angel had no idea what it was meant to do, so she continued searching the ground floor.
Down a short hallway was the kitchen. There was a small bar fridge which contained some washed fruit and yogurt. Utensils were washed and cleaned in the drying rack, with the counter wiped clean of dust. Patty had evidently been doing her analyses here for a few days, enough to warrant bringing snacks.
There was also a telephone book out on the counter, with a paper next to it.
Angel took a closer look at the paper, which seemed to be an accounting ledger. She wondered how Patty had obtained it. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn’t an original, but a copy, likely Xeroxed. One entry had been circled.
Someone named Julien Legrand had bought a lot of “cuisses de grenouilles”… frog’s legs. A curious thing for Patty to be researching. And of course, while Angel knew not everyone was interested in a vegetarian lifestyle the way she was, she rather hoped that Patty didn’t have a fondness for them.
She looked over to the telephone book. It was open to the page of “Le”. Angel quickly ran her finger down the page to “Legrand”. There was a faint pencil mark there, implying Patty had done the same thing.
Fortunately, Julien was the only Legrand in town; Angel made a mental note of the address. If things didn’t pan out here, that was her next stop.
She progressed out of the kitchen to the living room area in the front. It was mostly devoid of furniture, having only a large couch that the former owner had presumably not bothered to take, and an empty cabinet that might have held plates at one time.
Flattening herself against the wall, she went and peered out of the front window from behind the threadbare curtains. There didn’t seem to be anyone out there observing. But there was another house a short way down the street which could be used as a vantage point.
Angel looked back at the room. There was something here. Something off. It took a moment to register, but it was in the dust.
The entire house had a very fine layer of dust on the floor. Angel had seen a number of scuff marks in it already, where Patty had been moving back and forth. Perhaps wearing different shoes, or perhaps Mimi had also been by on some occasion, as there was more than one set of prints.
But in this room, there was a new set. And drag marks. And the way the dust was disturbed, it was as if someone had been subdued… and then dragged out to the hallway. Angel now unholstered her gun and quietly followed after the drag marks.
They did not go out the front door, as she had anticipated, instead they progressed back down the hall, to a doorway Angel had not yet explored.
She listened at the door, then counted to three and thrust it open, preparing to raise her weapon.
It was a bathroom. Patty was passed out on the floor.
“Mon dieu, Pâtes,” Angel gasped.
She quickly re-holstered her gun and bent down gave Patty a quick once over, to verify that there was no visible injury. It seemed that there would be no danger in moving her. Patty let out a soft moan as Angel’s fingers rested on her forehead, to check for a fever.
The rest of the house remained quiet. Whomever had done this had left… or was perhaps hiding on a different floor of the house. Though she hadn’t noticed the new footprints in the dust going up the stairs.
“Patty?” Angel ventured, pushing the bathroom door closed again. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
Patty simply moaned again.
Angel reached into the pocket of her lab coat, grateful now that she had worn it, with its pockets. She pulled out the smelling salts that she kept on hand.
It’s not that she expected to be knocked out ALL the time when doing her investigations, but it never hurt to be prepared.
“Here, this should help,” Angel said waving them under Patty’s nose. “Take it nice and easy now.”
“Uhhh… wha? Angel… ma sirène…?” Patty murmured. Her eyes opened, and she stared dreamily up at Angel’s face.
Angel couldn’t help but see that expression as absolutely adorable.
“Mmmm, it is you,” Patty murmured. “You came for me…”
Angel cleared her throat. “Oui, euh… t-take it easy,” she repeated, at a temporary loss for words. She hoped she wasn’t blushing in the way that Patty was starting to.
“Oh! Pardon,” Patty apologized, as she became more aware of the situation. She began to sit up, lifting her hand towards her forehead, groaning. And becoming aware that she was holding a paper. Patty peered at it in confusion.
“Allow me,” Angel said. She swiftly reached back into her lab coat to don a surgical glove before taking the page, even as she suspected that she wouldn’t get any fingerprints off of it. “Cut out magazine letters,” she realized. An obvious attempt to avoid handwriting detection. “It says, ‘Mind Your Own Business’.”
“Oh. So I’ve succeeded in annoying someone,” Patty realized. She again struggled to sit up, succeeding now with some help from Angel, before leaning her body back against the sink. “I suppose this means I’m on the right track.”
“Probably,” Angel agreed. “You had best be careful, assuming you wish to continue the case.”
Patty stared at her. “Would this be enough to make you stop investigating?”
“Euh. Non,” Angel admitted.
“Bien. Then me neither,” Patty declared.
Angel couldn’t fault her new friend’s determination. “Did you see who attacked you?”
Patty shook her head, then winced and pressed her hand back to her forehead. “Aie, remind me not to do that again. But non, I was simply walking through the house when I heard a noise behind me. Next thing I know, you are here waking me up.”
“Hmm. It’s nearly 1500 hours,” Angel offered, glancing at her watch. “Do you know how long you were out?”
“Zut, at least a couple hours,” Patty sighed. “I was just going to head to Mimi’s to share my latest clue with the both of you.”
Angel nodded. “About Julien Legrand?” she asked.
Patty stared at her, then laughed, then winced again. “Bon, I am now satisfied that my sexual inclinations are not an open book to everyone. You are simply an amazing investigator, Angel.”
“I saw the ledger and the phone book in the kitchen,” Angel admitted. “Though I admit I have no context for how this man connects to the case.”
“Mmm. The connection is how Mimi’s father has a fondness for frog’s legs,” Patty explained. “After our talk this morning, it occurred to me that they might be a way to bribe him, or keep him quiet. And that, outside of Mimi’s restaurant, there aren’t many places in the area to get them.”
Angel felt perversely pleased to learn that Patty wasn’t interested in frog’s legs herself.
“So,” Patty continued, “I asked Beam - who incidentally came to check on me after my failure to get you to leave the area - whether she could get me some information on whom around here might have bought such an item in bulk. She returned an hour later with that ledger you saw.”
Angel frowned. “Then Beam only provided the ledger, not more information about Legrand himself?”
“Correct. I found the name on it, not them. The Epsilon Project really is trying not to interfere,” Patty added. “Merely accelerate my investigation so that they can obtain the artifact that’s not supposed to be here.”
Angel conceded the point. “Bon, so Legrand was to be your next stop after our meeting… until you were attacked.”
Patty nodded, this time without wincing. “Correct again. In retrospect, it’s possible someone had been watching me since this morning. Waiting for an opportunity to attack. I really haven’t been taking many precautions.”
“Someone also seemed to be following me in a boat this morning,” Angel shared. “I suppose at least in splitting up, we split up their forces.”
“I suppose.” Patty bit down on her lower lip. “Are you certain you do not wish to help me out more directly though? You are so terribly good at all this, turning up out of the blue to rescue me.”
Angel averted her gaze, pretending it was a necessary move to adjust her bunny ears. This was not the time to be swayed by a pretty face. Even if it could be so, so pretty. “We shall see what transpires,” she stated. “Though, for now, I do believe it IS best for us to pursue this latest lead together.”
She looked back to see Patty’s beaming face, though the other woman almost immediately attempted to adopt a more neutral expression. “Of course. Yes. I thank you for assisting me even temporarily, Angel. Help me up?”
With a bit of assistance, Patty got back onto her feet, and Angel helped her out to the kitchen and into a chair. All the while listening for signs that someone might still be hiding in the house, but she heard nothing.
“So,” Angel said. “Did you have thoughts on how to handle this Julien Legrand?”
“Well, I’m not sure we should approach him directly,” Patty admitted. “As the captain may be in trouble, and could be used as a hostage. Which means gaining access to his house another way.”
“One of us could approach directly, to distract, as the other looks for clues,” Angel offered. “After all, they likely believe we are still operating separately.”
“There is that,” Patty said. “And I do have a device that would let us remain in communication. But I’m not certain I like the idea of us splitting up again.”
“Alors. We could both go off the wall, posing as two health inspectors. Following up on a bad batch of frog’s legs,” Angel suggested with a smile. Patty laughed at that.
(Alors, what is the plan?)
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Had Patty been in trouble, she would have been taken hostage by the shady villains, a group possibly led by the Captain himself. Had Patty been fine, Mimi would have remembered something, sending Angel to find the Captain, where she would have encountered Patty, who had been consumed with following her own lead.
Thanks again for reading. Voting will close some time after Jan 22nd, I hope to have another part out this month.)
